"So extraordinary have been the twists of the tale, so dramatic the conflicts and so picaresque the dramatis personae that it transcends the parochial confines of the SPL and belongs on the main stage at Stratford-upon-Avon. Here is the reduced Shakespeare: power-hungry mystery man from far-off land inherits crumbling little kingdom and seduces all and sundry with the promise of glories beyond their wildest dreams.
He then callously discards one faithful lieutenant after another. One, the Falstaffian Foulkes, does see the writing on the wall and resigns his chairmanship but the true nature and terrifying scale of the ruler's monomania is, by then, unstoppable.
The final act has yet to be played out but we are on the edge of our seats. Like the Bard's best there are two enduring mysteries. Vladimir Romanov's motivation is as unfathomable as Hamlet's and the extent and shape of his finances are murkier than the mists of Elsinore.
What we do know is that he is laughing all the way to the bank - his own bank in Lithuania, which is where he has transferred the club's mighty debt and where it is now accruing interest. Never a lender or borrower be? Try being both. The Scottish Football Association has grave concerns. One insider told me "he is cute as hell all right".
But at least a Shakespearian tragedy has a denouement. The Hearts' tale of sound and fury will run and run.
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